Cover



April 14, 1959 E. A. GOLDMAN COVER I Filed Nov. '7, 1956 .FIG.

INVENTOR.

ELIZABETH A. GOLDMAN ATTORNEY ren COVER Elizabeth A. comm Culver, Ind. Application November 7, 1956, Serial No. 620,884

1 Claim. (Cl. 135-5 The present invention relates to covers and more particularly to covers of the canopy type.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a cover for infant play pens, lawn and wheel chairs, beds, hammocks, and the like, which will shield the individual from breezes, drafts, dirt and insects and at the same time provide good ventilation, vision and light.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple canopy or cover of the aforesaid type, which can readily be assembled in place over the individual and easily removed therefrom and which can conveniently be stored in a small space or area when not in use.

Still another object is to provide a cover or canopy of the above type which gives ready access to the furniture or equipment covered thereby and which permits the individual to be easily observed, checked and cared for by an attendant.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an oblique view of my cover as used in conjunction with an infants play pen, portions of said cover being broken away in the drawing to more clearly show the construction and use of the cover; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary oblique view of my cover showing the relationship of the parts thereof.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, numeral indicates a conventional infants play pen having a bottom 12 supported off the floor of the room by the four corner posts 14 of the pen and vertical slats or bars 16 extending from the bottom to horizontal bars 18 and forming the sides of the pen. When my cover is not in use the top is fully open and the air or draft is free to pass aimost unrestricted through the pen between the slats 16. play pen without making any changes whatever in the pen construction; however it may be desirable to provide more space vertically under the cover. To provide this additional space an extension 20 may be mounted onto the upper end of each post 14 and supported there with a securing means, such as a peg or screw, sufiiciently rigid to hold the extension parallel with the post after the cover has been mounted thereon. If desired the extension can be formed integrally with the post.

My cover as designed for the play pen just described consists of five panels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 joined per manently together along all adjacent edges with the exception of the edges at corner 32, which are tied together with one or more pairs of the strings 34. Any other closing means, such as snap buttons or a zipper, may be used in place of the tie strings if desired. In the particular embodiment shown in Figure 1 panels 22 and 24 consist of netting having a mesh sufiiciently small to prevent flies, gnats and similar insects from entering the play pen, while panels 26, 28 and 30 consist of transparent, flexible plastic material or the like which is preferably continuous, unperforated sections sewn, cemented or otherwise firmly My cover can be used with the conventional secured to 1 the adjacent panels. The adjoining plastic- 2,881,778 Patented Apr. 14, 1959 ICC,

panels likewise can be joined by sewing or cementing or by any other well known method of joining two pieces of plastic material.

F In the cover or'canopy just described the transparent plastic panels 26, 28 and 30 protect the infantfrom drafts and dirt and at the same time permit the mother or nurse to observe and check the infant as easily as if the cover were removed from the pen. The netting, which may be any one of a number of coarse materials such as mosquito netting, coarse thin cloth or the like, provides the necessary ventilation for the infant and at the same time excludes flies and other insects. After the cover is slipped in place over the pen and drawn tight around the bottom and tied by strings 34, the infant is unable to throw his toys from the pen and household pets can not interfere with the infant. When the cover is not needed it can readily be removed by untying strings 34 and lifting it from the pen. Since the cover is of flexible material it can be folded into a compact package and stored in a small space.

The number of plastic panels relative to the number of net panels can be varied from one cover to the other. For example, panel 30 may be netting instead of plastic or panel 22 may be plastic instead of netting. These and other variations can be made to suit requirements.

While only one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated in the drawings, it is apparent that the invention can readily be used with beds of all types, particularly hospital beds, bunks, baby cribs, and high chairs, baby strollers, porch swings, hammocks, and outdoor tables, and the like. The invention resides primarily in a cover composed of the combination of transparent, flexible sheet material such as plastic to form a shield and netting or the like to permit ventilation while excluding insects, pests and pets from under the cover. Although a number of uses have been cited herein there are many other uses coming within the purview of the invention, to which the present cover or canopy can be adapted.

The invention is not limited to any specific kind or grade of material for the netting or transparent panels. For example the netting may be of cotton or nylon thread or cord and the size of mesh can be selected to suit requirements. The flexible, transparent material may be of any one of the well known plastic materials readily available on the market. Further the plastic material and netting may be of any desired color or color combinations and the plastic material may be tinted to soften the light for the eyes. Various other changes and modifications in addition to those described above can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As used in the present specification and appended claim the term plastic material is intended to cover and include any flexible, transparent sheet material suitable for the present invention, and the word netting is intended to cover and include any kind of net material, screen or other highly perforated material suitable for this invention.

I claim:

A canopy for use over an area to be protected, comprising members forming a rectangular frame in a horizontal plane, posts connected to and extended above said frame for supporting said members above said area in spaced relation to said frame, a panel of flexible transparent plastic material supported horizontally on said posts and forming a closed top, a rectangular panel of flexible transparent plastic material joined to one of the edges of said top panel and hanging vertically downwardly therefrom forming one side, a second rectangular panel of flexible transparent plastic material joined to an adjacent edge of said top panel and hanging vertically downwardly therefrom and being joined at one of its joined-at one: of its edges ;to one of; the aforesaid? verti: cally hanging panels-, a second, rectangular. panel-z Qfzi netting joined to therremaining, edge of: said top panel? and hanging vertically downwardly therefrom andlbeing;

joined atone of ;its. edges tol'the other of the. aforesaid vertically hanging plastic. panels-,. and, release-able means: for holding the other. edges of said netting panels; to-

gather and permitting parting: of. said netting: panels firom one a another: to form a door,

'References'Ci'ted in the file of this patent UNITED STA ES PATENTS Price July 9, 1901 Palmer Nov. 28, 1905 Grissim Dec. 9, 1913 Clyman July 15, 1930 Berneking' July 29, 1930 France. et a1. June 8, 1943 Gilroy ef'al. Feb. 22, 1955 

